On Christmas Eve

Would she still want Christmas if it didn't look like artificial lights glowing on her street? The same shine down on her from the stores to blind her hazy belief that she wanted something more this time around. Would she still want Christmas if I didn't wrap her material lust in reds and blues topped with little gold and silver bows? The notion never took her as she sleeps without dreaming on Christmas Eve.

Hearts Shine On And You Were There

When the Rain came you were there to laugh with me...

And when the Darkness came you were there close to me...

And when my Fall came you held me back up...

And you shined bright so I could see through the Night.

Turn Away Your Electric Eyes From Me...

"Better At Night" taken Thursday, July 7, 2009.

"Its a light, it's somewhere for us to find, tonight chase this light with me."

- Jimmy Eat World

I go by this lake 1,000 more times and 1,000 more times I'm not going to know those yellow lights on the other side of the water, like yellow eyes turned away from me standing here on the wrong side of the shoreline. This artificial lake puts 1,000 miles between those houses and my home. Because me and my freinds are from south of here. And they're from everywhere but here, from Baltimore, D.C., Pittsburgh and Annapolis, bringing their city money, big money, money that makes those yellow lights shine on.

I just wondered how many stepped out from electric lights tonight to see the moon sleeping on the water. Cause tonight I can actually feel it as it lays there. And they'll just go on taking those lights from across the water, so far from me they don't even look real. But tonight they don't own my light.

That's the only damn thing they could never take from us, this one light. They can't ever own it, lease it, rent it, or list it like everything else in my county now. Thank God for that.

Night Falls on Richmond...time to turn them loose.

The sun finalized its descent on Richmond, Va. last night and 43 of the greatest drivers in the world climbed into the seats for 400 laps at Richmond for the Chevy Rock and Roll 400.

This was my sevnenth trip south to Richmond International Raceway, the three quarter mile track that gives fans the close racing of a short track, but with speeds that suggest the one mile and mile and a half speedways.

Saturday was the last chance for drivers to make The Chase for the Sprint Cup, and their effort in Richmond didn't disappoint.

The Virginia crowd had a lot to celebrate at the end of this one last night, as Virginia native Denny Hamlin smoked the competition, leading nearly three-fourths of the 400 circuits around RIR.

There was no denying how bad Hamlin wanted to win in Virginia. The only other car that had anything for him at any point last night was the 24 of Jeff Gordon. But with flawless pit stops, Hamlin was at the top of the leader board all night. And when lap four hundred went up, the number 11 was still on top.

The great fans in Virginia were loving a Virginian owning the night in Richmond. They didn't mind Hamlin's nearly full-track burnout either.

As for the chase, the big surprise last night was Brian Vickers racing his way to a seventh place finish and making the chase for the Red Bull Racing team in just its third year. On the outside looking in was Kyle Busch and maybe more surprisingly Matt Kenseth, who has made the Chase every year since its inception in 2004.

Another issue a night in Richmond, Va. helped put to rest was the rumors that our sport is going down hill. I was at the Spring race and the fall Race in Richmond, and even with a 10 percent unemployment rate, 100,000 strong still came out last night. So to this, as with any other ignorant comment made about NASCAR and its loyal fans, we can still reply with "Say what you want, we can't hear you!" Race On!!!

Photographers

"For half a century, photography has been the 'art form' of the untalented. Obviously some pictures are more satisfactory than others, but where is credit due? To the designer of the camera? To the finger on the button? To the law of averages?"

- Gore Vidal

"Blessed be the inventor of photography! It has given more positive pleasure to poor suffering humanity than anything else that has 'cast up' in my time -- this art by which even the 'poor' can possess themselves of tolerable of their absent dear ones."

- Jane Welsh Carlyle

I had an art teacher, who I respected (not a word I use much at all) and who had a lot of respect for me. He said that he didn't view photography as art. His reason, as I can best recall it, was that photography was simply recording scences and subjects; the photographer is just recording scenes. Art, on the other other hand, gives us an artist's unique interpretation of the subject.

I would have to agree with his arguement. Artists depict the world in a different way. Photographers see the world in a different way to begin with...one moment and one frame at a time.

Into The Woods, Into My Night

"The impossible it possible tonight."

- The Smashing Pumpkins


One reason, if not the central reason, for making the switch to digital (or selling out as I belief I may have...though still not bowing down to the the almighty Photoshop) was that I wanted to know if what I was doing was that the pictures that I took lived up to my standards of what I believe I was capable of.

Six years into this photography interest and I have to admit that I have never taken a clear, detailed shot of the moon...until a few weeks prior to this post. Back home in Garrett County, where my summer nights were cooler and my night sky clearer, I watched the moon rise over the hills and break through the trees. For the next 30 minutes a shootout between me and the night broke out. There was trial, and error, and trial, and error, and trial...

Finally, I got the settings dead on, the shutter went, and I got the shot I wanted. And after that, the shutter closed and opened, closed and opened, the camera winking at the night sky now that it had warmed up to it.

In this early night shootout I scarcely had the time to notice between shots the adjustments I was making on the camera. I knew I was getting closer and closer to perfect until I had it...

Luckily for this ignorant photographer, my Sony Cybershot allows me to go back and look at the settings for each image.

For the next lunar display, I think I'll wake my film camera from its sleep and and zoom it in on the subject, getting close enough I believe I can reach out and touch it.

The first image you see is titled "No One Knows About The Midsummer Night's Dream." The second one is titled "The Past Does Not Exist."

Photography involves endless discovery in more ways than one, thank God for that.

Hearts in Towson

These are the first good images I have ever taken down here in my new home of Towson. It has been almost a year now. This path is long and uncertain and many times a lonely one, but this afternoon, when the early June sun was descending....

"Simple pleasures aren't as special but I won't regret it never."

- Red Hot Chili Peppers

Beat Blog : What Photography Means

To everyone in MCOM 258, I have now created and published my beat blog for the class, titled "What Photography Means."

Hey MCOM 258

For those of you who have not met me before, my name is Benjamin Knepp and I just finished my junior year of college, and my first year here at Towson. I come from the rural and peaceful Garrett County, MD, and transferred to Towson from Garrett College. My hometown of Oakland, MD (and the surrounding lands) makes a plethora of appearences in this blog. I am currently a MCOM major here at Towson in the journalism and new media track.

As apparent from this blog, I have a passion for photography. Almost all of the images in this blog tell a story about myself. This is what I love about it; the ability that one image has to narrate an entire story. What I do in this blog is to relate to the readers the stories that the images hold for me. For every picture I take, I want to be able to relate the readers the stories behind them, and the feelings behind each image that means a lot to me and who I am.

And so photojournalism is my favorite way to tell stories. This is what I wish to incorporate into my news beat for MCOM 258. I want to report on and write about individuals who share my passion for telling stories fwith images. I think that the most important part of journalism is the storytelling aspect of it, and images are vital in doing this. I will create a new blog for this specific beat when I start reporting on it, and will let announce the web adress as soon as I start.

From this class, I want to most of all build on my knowledge of all the technology that goes into multimedia storytelling that is so dominant in journalism today. I hope to increase my ability to incorporarate audio, film, and images in order to create effective news stories. Also, I want to be able to learn the differences in writing stories for different media platforms, such as blogs, online, and broadcast journalism. In this class, I will improve my abilities for writing across all the different platforms.

The Air

"Because the night belongs to lovers, because the night belongs to us."

- Bruce Springsteen

Say it on the midnight air.

Turn around love, and she's not there.

Tucked in, soft and warm somewhere.

Her perfect form to soft brown hair.

And your feelings are laid bare

Shifting restlessly on the midnight air...

The Mind When It Dreams Of Stars Aligning

"All I do is kiss you through the bars of orion,
Julie I'd do the stars with you anytime."

- Dire Straits


It is the same night that a carnival became a succession of still images when my mind is running at the speed of light. It is act one of the stars alligning in my late summer. I don't know it now but I will know it looking back. Do you ever have the fleeting moments where the there is imperceptable forces at work in your favor and you become untouchable? Call it a helpless romantic who believes such things in a world of rhyme and reason but helpless to believe this I will remain.

It is now one in the morning. And while the world sleeps, my mind races on into the warm stillness of post-midnight August. This image represents how the restless mind doesn't stop in the night when it is dreaming of a world of dissolving limits.

These dreams bleed out onto the film tonight, and they will always be here to remind me how it feels to believe that this night is mine alone. A part of me lives in tonight forever, living on the tails of shooting stars, and never wanting to come back.

Nine in the Evening

"...son take a good look around. This is your hometown."

- Bruce Springsteen



" As the grey unyielding concrete, makes a city of my town."

- Flogging Molly

At nine in the evening, a hush falls on my small town and those lights shine down on ghost streets. If you want to walk them, you must want to walk alone. Maybe you need to get away from those you know a little too well (it is a small town by the way). Or do you want to feel the cool air while you try to forget the day? Still, it may that you are tired of the intimacy and isolation of being young in a small town.

Last May I went to the overlook to witness the hush at nightfall for myself. From here you can see the town in its entirety. Here you can see each of the six banks within a mile radius of each other. Over there is First United, down the street is M&T. The next block up is Susquehanna. It's as if this small town doesn't have enough places to hold all its money.

Over to your left is Shaffer Ford and Team One Chevrolet. They used to put them oversized extended-cab trucks out front. Now they hardly keep 'em on the lot. I guess everyone doesn't want to take all their money out of all the banks.

You can also see the lights of the six gas stations. What you can't make out from up here is the numbers on those signs that didn't want to stop last summer; it was 10 cents, 20 cents a day. I am glad that you can't see them from up here. I wouldn't want to put an imperfection on this scene.

In the middle of all this stands is the Oak-Lee Dairy Land, as it has for the last 50 summers. You and your girlfriend went there on the first date. After 50 summers they tore it down when the dollar amount was right. Now there is a sign that says "Coming Soon: Walgreens Pharmacy." I suppose that makes sense when there is a CVS right across the street.

I heard someone argue that Walgreens is open 24 hours a day as if there was going to be someone down there that is going to break the stillness of the night.

"I suppose that's a sign that Oakland's getting bigger," my uncle said. And it most definately is. My dad always tells me about the time that there was no Pizza Hut, no Green Acres, and no Dollar General. And I can remember the time there was no Taco Bell, no CVS, and no Wal-Mart.

Just this year they opened up Lowes and are starting construction on a Dairy Queen. This is the home town not as it is remembered. Changes come as a part of life.

But one thing doesn't change: nine in the evening. Every night at this time the silence lingers under the street lights. My picture is a falsehood, because as the world is moving at the speed of light, this town sleeps quietly tonight.

A Representation of Energy

"Can you feel the energy? It's gaining strength oh so slowly."

- AFI

An image should capture the feelings and energy of an exact moment in time. That, to me, constitutes a good photograph. It isn't about the image quality, color saturations, lighting, or even the composition. If an image can symbolize every feeling, emotion, and thought in one instant, than it has served its purpose.

In the past few years, I have had the chance to take hundreds of photos at concerts my freinds have performed. I even get in free because of this. It must be the most difficult task however, as a photographer, to capture even one image that is a perfect representation of the energy at a live show.

The shutter speed is slowed down to 2 seconds to capture the movement of the music one feels in the audience. Black and white film was used because I wanted to give it an old school, unpolished look that coincided with the band's music.

This photograph is of my freind Mike Murphy, playing with his band Arson Decor in 2007. Of all the live shots, this one continues to be my favorite.

The band May have broken up later that year, but at the very least this image will be here as a representation of energy of the show that night. Many things over the years may be fleeting. Taking taking photos is to help them live on at least in memory.

Throwaway Roses

"...that I almost believe that the pictures are all I can feel."

- The Cure

Late one Saturday night in November of 2007, my manager brought back a dozen roses that had begun to wither and tossed them in the already overflowing trash cans. The customers had passed over them and they had begun to die. Roses, by nature, have always been one of the most picture-perfect subjects. Their symbolism abounds with love, beauty, purity, and frailty. Something inside me caused me to pick out four of these wilted throwaways and carry them out of the store and into the night.

At one in the morning...the time of night when the world moves slower and thoughts flow easier, I put the blacklight behind those flowers. Their silouettes created something that was moving that I couldn't quite understand. And rarely will I understand how an image moves me until I look back at the moment and see how much of my thoughts and feelings are reflected and are now held there forever. It was a fleeting rare moment (here in my basement at one a.m. of all times) that the image truely and to the deepest level becomes a reflection. I once had an English teacher years ago that writers create some of their best work in moments of extreme excstasy or in moments deepest despair. That was what happens the moment you allow your entire self to come through. And I am thankful of those moments.

The first is titled "PostLustPop" and the second is titled "That's Love, Not Lust..."

But as the light grows dimmer

From atop of this hill it would seem something out of a postcard. It must have some sentimental value; the cars still park alongside the road every now and again to get one for the family photo album. They are just passing through this neck of the woods and took the 30 seconds from their trip to capture this old structure nestled in the hills of Red House, MD. Two-hundred years young and it's still worthy of a photograph. If only everything in this countryside aged that gracefully...

And on this peaceful autumn evening you could imagine that this old dinosaur was doing all right for herself, standing solid and tall as the sun descends behind the hills in my home town. A picture wouldn't suggest diminishing attendance, an aging congregation, a discouraging financial struggle, and a decade of pastors who just didn't give a damn about the good people of this community.

This is where my father went to church, and his father went to church, and his father before him. It's sad to know that in a matter of years this church is on the brink of vanishing altogether. Of course, this photo-worthy building will stand for many years to come. But Christianity 101 is that a church is not a building but a body of people. What I never thought would happen, or at least would never want to admit, is that all it will stand for is as a memorial to 220 years of faith and hope.

Faith...I owe it to lessons learned on the Sunday mornings of my childhood. But as the light grows dimmer the faith fades faster.

"And once your gone you can't come back, when you're out of the blue and into the black."

- Neil Young

Chrome To Dust: An American Tragedy

I don't know how they got there. I don't know where they came from. I am not even certain what make they are...or were. What I am sure about is that when these dinosaurs roamed the American roads, no one foresaw the decline of the American auto industry that is being seen today. Everyday the papers deliver more news on the collapse of an American industry and the desperation in Detroit.

It was the late Johnny Cash that said "Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose, In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes." I wish I could still believe that we are "doin' mighty fine." Like these rusty frames, it looks like the big three in Detroit are being swallowed into the ground.

I'm no expert; I dont know the entire story of how things got to this point. And I don't know how these old relics of a younger and healthier auto industry made it onto my Grandma's farm to be forgotten. What I do know is this story is of an American tragedy being written everyday before our very eyes. So when will the last page be written? We don't know the ending to this story either.

Every Picture Tells a Story...

Everyone knows that a picture tells a story. What many don't know is the story behind the taking of the picture, which can be just as interesting many times. This shot was taken around 9:30. The building is the old Red House Elementary School. The school shut down when I was in the fourth grade. All the kids were shipped to the newly-built and modern consolidated school closer to town. And so this old brick structure stands down the street from my house like an aging ghost; and we all know that old buildings take on a form of their own at night. They have since turned it into an antique mall and during the day the seniors will brush the dust off of old glass dishes in a building that used to be bustling with the restless energy only kids can have at the end of another school day.

I figured I would give her, this now-quiet building where my dad and his dad used look out the windows and wait for 3:00 o' clock, one last visit. And in the night the presence of this building brings back memories of days gone by. Part of me was left at that school.

And to everybody else, this picture will not mean anything. But to me, it will tell all the stories of my school days, of my first friends, my first day of education, and the gym teacher's lectures for acting up in lunch (had a few of those lectures). Towson University is a long ways down the way from a small brick school in the countryside. But I'll always keep the memories of this building close to me.

Star Effects

There are many filters that can be put on the end of a camera for special effects. One that creates a unique effect is called a star-effects filter. For an SLR camera, digital or film, the lens is threaded at the end. A filter will screw into the end of the lens. In the case of a star-effects filter, the filter can be turned on the end of the lens once it has been screwed in. What it does is any point of light the camera is pointed at, such as a streetlight or the sun or the moon, the filter will create the effect of steaks of light coming off of that light, creating a "star" effect. If used properly, it can add a dramatic and powerful effect to an image. It will cause the image to stand out and take the viewer's attention immediately. One instance that I used the star effect filter was on a closeup of our Christmas tree at home, creating a radient image. The filter can be turned in order to position the streaks of light perfectly for the composition.

In order to show what is meant by a star effects filter, here are two images that have become favorites of mine. I took the same pictures without the filter and they are not worth a second look.

Stories in an Image

Every week, Time.com posts on its website the best photographs for that particular week. When looking over the photographs posted for 2009 thus far, one thing can be made clear: an image is stronger than words.

Many of us will read a news story in the paper or a magazine, reflect on it for a few moments, and continue on with our day. But images have more lasting effect than the news stories themselves. One photo that I found to have a significant impact is a photograph taken on Wednesday, January 27, 2009, titled "Watermarked," taken by Dean J. Koepfler. This image shows just how bad the flooding was in Orting, Washington that week.

To be honest, I had heard nothing of the flooding that occured in Orting. Nor can I say that this news has any effect on me. And I can say with certainty that if I were to have read a news report on this event, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. News in Orting, WA has, after all, virtually no proximinal value here in Towson, MD.

Yet seeing this single image made me stop and wonder about what had occured in the town. This is not because the image shows the flooding, but shows us the frustration and hopelessness of the people in this community. And this is how the image connects this story to us. Many may not have experienced the damage a flood can cause a community. But most, if not all, have experiened similar feelings of frustration and despondency that is shown on the mens' faces in the photograph. We can now connect with the story. This is why images are more vital when storytelling in the news is concerned.

The Winter

A February 6 Gadgetwise blog on the New York Times website highlights some practical tips on how to take care of your camera equipment. This is, of course, if you wish to brave the cold winter to get some winter scenes in the photo album.

Winter is by no means the most photogenic season. The short days, the cold temperatures, and the bare trees do not often generate inspiration, at least from my experience. This is the first winter I am not living in Garrett County, Maryland. One of the reasons I moved to Towson was to get away from the biting winters in Backbone Mountain.

Yet the mountains have their advantage even in the midst of winter. Sometimes, when the snow has stopped falling and the sun makes a rare appearance from behind the clouds, the entire landscape glistens. This, combined with the rustic scenery, can become a photographer's paradise. These images were all taken at my home and the surrounding farms. The one was taken by utilizing the sepia tone format on my Sony Cybershot.

Motion

Many think that pictures are a way to freeze a moment in time. An alternate way to think of pictures is that they can capture motion in a still image. On August of of 2007, I was at the Garrett County Fairgrounds. Anyone who has ever been to a carnival of any sorts will remember the entire night is in motion. The groups of people and the circling rides never stand still. A fairgrounds is a place that feeds (especially when the night falls and the lights come on) off a moving energy. What I wanted was to capture the movement of that night in a series of still images. The way I did this was to slow the shutter speed down to four to six seconds. I recieved some looks from those passing by as I was taking the pictures. I had to hold the camera as still as possible at one spot for the six seconds to reduce camera shake. The flash was turned off to eliminate artificial brightness. Tampering with shutter speeds results in the illusion of movement in a still image. It is also one of the ways to convey your emotions in a picture.

Photography

Photography is the attempt to capture every thought, emotion, belief, fear, hope, and dream of a given moment in one image.